ON  THE  SANITARY  URGENCY 


— OF  THE- 


EloritUi  S.1  iip  Cciiial. 


BY  JOHN  GAMGEE. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.: 

R.  O.  POLKINITORN,  PRINTER, 
1 880. 


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ON  THE 

Sanitary  Urgency  of  the  Florida  Ship  Canal. 


By  JOHN  GAMGEE. 


Science  has  been  retarded  by  a confusion  of  tongues. 
No  branch  of  it  illustrates  this  better  than  medicine.  Im- 
perfect as  we  must  admit  natural  history  classifications 
to  be,  and  barbarous  as  are  their  nomenclature,  the 
defects  are  more  glaring  in  the  field  of  progressive  pathol- 
ogy. Precision  of  knowledge  demands  precision  of  lan- 
guage. We  name  things  long  before  we  . understand  their 
nature.  Naming  them  wrongly,  or  without  reference  to 
their  most  general  characteristics,  we  convey  no  just  idea 
of  their  significance,  nor  of  their  relations  to  causal  or  con- 
sequent phenomena. 

Bead  the  list  of  synonyms  for  that  most  inadequate  ex- 
pression— yellow  fever.  Until  this  was  invented  last  cen- 
tury the  more  general  appellations  “bilious  fever,”  malig- 
nant fever — “ effects  of  climate  ” — and  in  Spanish  or  Port- 
uguese— the  far  better  and,  perhaps,  best  of  all  names,  so 
far  adopted — “calenture,”  or  heat  disease,  were  in  vogue. 
Sailor’s  fever,  stranger’s  fever,  “ flux  ” and  “ dysentery,” 
with  a host  of  others  too  numerous  to  mention,  enshrouded 
the  past  ravages  of  this  pest  in  a mystery  which  baffles  the 
historian,  until  penetrating  beneath  the  surface  of  casual  re- 
search. This  Babel,  within  a centur}7-,  has  confounded 
yellow  fever  with  land  endemics,  characterized  by  yellow- 
ness. The  bilious  remittent  of  the  Mississippi  Valley — the 
yellow  disease  of  this  Continent,  which  is  but  an  aggravated 
chronic  result  of  malaria,  African  and  West  Indian  fever, 

p <2Lfl  \ bt> 


4 


have  all  crowded  the  pages  of  hasty  writers,  with  the 
effect  of  still  leaving  a remnant  of  physicians,  who  believe 
this  plague  to  be  a product  of  American  soil. 

Candid  men  will  admit  that,  until  quite  recently,  the  do- 
main of  yellow  fever  discussion  and  writings  might  be  de- 
nominated chaos.  No  man  did  more  to  perpetuate  an  un- 
fathomable diversity  of  opinion  and  thought  than  La  Boche. 
For  five  and  twenty  years  he  has  imposed  his  illogical  and 
rambling  views  on  American  students  of  medicine.  It  is 
time  this  should  cease. 

Can  we  briefly  indicate  a point  of  contact,  which  will  fur- 
ther the  interest  and  instruction  to  be  derived  from  such 
discussions  as  I now  propose?  The  prevailing  and,  un- 
doubtedly correct  view  is,  that  no  such  epidemic  afflicts 
this  soil,  without  the- introduction  of  some  foreign  element 
by  ships.  It  is  an  exclusively  naval  importation.  We 
shall  not  discuss  whether  every  vessel  has  received  poison 
from  sea  or  land.  There  are  persons — a very  few — who  be- 
lieve that,  as  in  small-pox,  a pre-existing  case  fathers  every 
instance  of  such  sickness.  The  majority  believe  that  the 
human  system  is  no  essential  factor  in  the  production  and 
transmission  of  this  cumulative  and  virulent  poison. 

Whatever  may  be  the  derivation  of  the  potential  el- 
ement which  contaminates  the  ship,  since  it  reaches  all 
known  lands  from  the  sea , we  may  term  it  pelagic. 

For  a century  and  more  the  idea  has  prevailed  that  this 
is  a genuine  fever — a pyrexia.  It  is  certainly  very  differ- 
ent from  all  diseases  with  definite  periods  of  incubation ; 
periods  so  definite  that,  a few  hours,  if  not  minutes, 
count  the  variations  in  usual  or  normal  development. 
These  diseases  run  a distinct  and  unalterable  course,  with  a 
peculiarly  marked  crisis,  to  be  followed  by  resolution  or 
death.  There  is  so  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  yellow 
fever  being  a form  of  simple,  and  usually,  severe  poisoning, 
by  material  totally  extraneous  to  human  development, 


5 


in  contradistinction  to  every  form  of  human  virus, 
producing  true  and  specific  fevers,  that  I propose  we  shall 
call  it — what  it  surely  is — a pest  or  plague,  not  a fever. 
Hence,  my  name  for  it — “ Pelagic  Pest,”  or  “Pestis  Pel- 
agia ” — plague  of  or  from  the  sea. 

In  favor  of  this  designation  I shall  adduce  the  views  of 
only  one  authority.  My  choice  is  guided  by  the  fact  that 
Auguste  Frederic  Dutroulau,  the  renowned  French  Naval 
surgeon,  has  been  quoted  repeatedly,  by  Dr.  Chaille,  in  op- 
position to  my  views.  It  being  understood  that  I not 
discussing  the  origin  of  yellow  fever  I shall  not  quote  the 
mid-ocean  observations  of  Dutroulau.  In  the  Parisian  Ar- 
chives of  Medicine  for  1853  he  declares  the  conclusion  au- 
thorized that  “ the  miasma  of  yellow  fever  derives  one  of 
its  essential  characters  from  the  influence  of  the  sea.” 

More  recently,  in  1868,  he  testifies  that  the  “ primary 
cause  of  yellow  fever  is  localized  on  the  sea — an  infection 
proper  to  certain  maritime  localities.”  Even  forgetting 
his  earlier  and  most  valuable  observations,  on  yellow  fever 
at  sea,  on  board  the  Cuirassier,  and  accepting  the  contagious 
character  of  yellow  fever,  he  insists  on  primarily  recogniz- 
ing, as  a duty,  the  protection  of  land  from  infected  vessels. 

It  must  therefore  be  admitted  that  Pelagic  Pest  correctly 
defines  that  most  general  feature,  distinguishing  yellow  fever 
from  every  other  known  disease.  This  is  more  than  can  be 
said  for  any  other  name  hitherto  employed. 

Last  winter  I devoted  some  time  to  New  Orleans.  The 
impressions  left  on  my  mind  after  a careful  survey  of  the 
location  and  experiences  of  the  city,  were,  that  from  a geo- 
graphical point  of  view,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
have  found  a site  for  readier  protection  from  any  plague  of 
the  sea,  whilst  surrounded,  by  the  most  extensive  and  pro- 
lific sources  conceivable,  for  the  development  of  land  en- 
demics. The  solid  structures  and  paving  of  the  embanked 
civic  area,  protect  inhabitants  from  immediate  soil  em- 


6 


anations.  Winds,  however,  waft  down  the  streets,  in  a 
line  with  unhealthy  marshes,  the  poison  which  produces 
well  marked  cases  of  intermittents,  and  Dr.Gustavus  Devron, 
to  whom  I am  indebted  for  these  and  other  data,  has  shown 
how  exempt  are  the  inhabitants  of  streets,  crossing  the 
lines  on  which  atmospheric  currents  most  readily  reach 
citizens’  houses. 

No  wind  blows  yellow  fever  up  the  noble  Mississippi. 
One  hundred  and  ten  miles  of  rapid  river  would,  in  it- 
self, afford  obstacles  to  the  ocean  contamination  of  New 
Orleans.  But  the  Gulf  beyond,  now  traversed  by  fever 
ships  from  the  Carribbean  Sea,  through  the  Yucatan  Pass, 
or  from  Havana,  and  much  more  rarely  entering  it  by  the 
Florida  Straits,  is  in  itself  a haven  of  purity — a geo- 
graphical area,  within  which  the  absolute  preservation  of 
this  noble  city,  from  pelagic  contamination,  may  be  surely 
and  permanently  consummated. 

The  Gulf  of  Mexico  receives  the  waters  and  debris  of 
rivers  which  influence  its  currents,  fauna  and  temperatures. 
It  is  swept  round  by  the  equatorial  current  which  is  mod- 
erated by  an  influx  of  colder  waters,  whereby  a bottom 
temperature  of  39°  is  obtained  in  contrast  to  54°  in  the 
Mediterranean.  The  Gulf  Stream,  forcing  its  way  past  the 
Keys,  bearing  with  it  the  genial  heat  so  essential  to  the 
life  and  comfort  of  millions  in  Europe,  has  ever  proven  the 
friend  of  the  mariner  and  preserver  of  ships  crews,  by  car- 
rying them  into  cooler  latitudes. 

The  accurate  and  extensive  investigations,  relating  to  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Mexican  Gulf ; — the  services  unequalled, 
and  unmarked  by  any  token  of  a Nation’s  gratitude,  of 
that  most  learned,  most  modest  and  most  zealous  student 
of  the  sea — Commander  Maury; — the  arduous  labors  of 
the  officers  of  the  Coast  Survey,  and  the  results  of  the  most 
successful  scientific  expedition,  ever  inaugurated  by  a scien- 
tific society,  under  the  leadership  of  such  men  as  Naresand 


i 

Wyville  Thomson,  afford  us  material  for  a just  insight  into 
the  main  features  of  marine  phenomena  and  their  influence 
on  life. 

Dr.  Turner  has  rendered  it  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to 
discuss,  the  pernicious  conditions  under  which  human  be- 
ings still  float  from  land  to  land.  To  these  and  to  these 
mainly,  we  owe  the  possibility  of  pelagic  infection  devasta- 
ting not  only  crews,  but  all  confined  spaces  on  sea  and  land, 
which  are,  directly  or  indirectly,  accessible  to  the  emana- 
tions of  a foul  vessel.  The  freight  cars  of  railroads  have 
carried  these  as  far  as  Louisville  and  beyond,  and  I com- 
mend to  your  attention  Dr.  J.  W.  Holland’s  report  and  map 
on  this  one  point. 

Admitting,  therefore,  that  vessels,  especially  the  wooden 
craft  of  the  New  World,  are  unfit  abodes  for  man  any- 
where, the  consequences  may  be  surmised  of  any  specific 
contamination,  whether  by  a pure  contagion  like  small- 
pox, the  transmitting  elements  of  relapsing  fever — as 
amongst  the  Irish  emigrants  of  1847 — or  of  the  putrid  bilge, 
due  to  tropical  Atlantic  waters,  removed  from  oxygen  and 
Nature’s  unceasing  cycle. 

What  is  that  cycle  ? In  the  tropics,  with  a mean  sur- 
face heat  of  75°  to  80°,  abundant  evaporation -establishes 
ocean  currents  from  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic,  which, 
whilst  lowering  to  below  39°  the  bottom  temperature,  in- 
duce vertical  and  horizontal  variations,  essential  to  the 
economy  of  the  universe. 

The  vertical  influences  may  be  briefly  stated  as  consist- 
ing in  high  density  of  surface  water,  with  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  oxygen,  amounting  to  33  or  35  per  cent,  An  ex- 
uberant development,  within  reach  of  atmospheric  influence, 
of  a marine  fauna  comprising  globigerinse,  which  are  not 
only  most  abundant  but  largest  in  the  warmest  waters,  and 
still  more  limited  by  temperature  in  their  distribution,  are 
the  forms  of  Pulvinulina,  The  structureless  flesh  or  sar- 


8 


code  of  these  animals,  constitutes  the  food  of  swarms  of  other 
pelagic  animals,  and,  as  with  the  structure  of  higher  organ- 
isms, it  is  constantly  decaying  ; swarms  are,  at  each  in- 
stant, perishing ; their  calcareous  skeleta  gravitate  to  the 
bottom  and  form  the  ocean  bed,  which,  according  to  depth, 
presents  a varied  structure.  In  the  regions  of  globigerina 
ooze,  the  beautiful  microscopical  characters  of  a “new 
chalk  ” are  discernible,  with  some,  not  many,  living  crea- 
tures. A little  deeper  the  degeneration  has  advanced  fur- 
ther, characterizing  the  grey  ooze  of  the  Atlantic  bed,  and, 
deeper  still,  is  a red  clay,  the  product  of  very  simple  chem- 
ical changes  in  the  organic  deposit,  which  Mr.  Buchanan 
seems  successfully  to  have  repeated  in  the  laboratory. 

Down  in  the  lowest  depths,  the  colder  waters,  from  the 
poles,  bear  more  oxygen  essential  to  the  chemical  changes, 
than  is  to  be  found  in  the  intermediate  ocean  layers.  The 
amount  is  much  less  than  on  the  surface,  but  it  is  more 
than  at  an  average  of  800  fathoms,  at  which  point  it  at- 
tains a minimum.  Thus  says  Sir  Wyville  Thomson:  “ In 
deep  water,  a wide  intermediate  zone  between  the  surface 
and  the  layers  immediately  above  the  bottom  is  nearly  des- 
titute of  animal  life — at  all  events,  in  its  higher  manifesta- 
tions.” 

With  a steadily  descending  temperature  from  the  sur- 
face to  the  sea-bottom,  there  is  a progressive  diminution 
in  the  number,  size  and  variety  of  living  forms.  The  At- 
lantic has  a mean  depth  of  2,000  fathoms,  so  that  an  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  singular  contrasts  presented  by  a sec- 
tion of  the  living  upper  strata,  the  relatively  lifeless  mid- 
dle, and  the  deeper  laboratory  of  physical  and  chemical 
transformations  raising  in  aeons  the  ocean  bed. 

The  balance  of  nature  is  modified,  in  its  apparent  phe- 
nomena, by  the  slightest  appreciable  conditions.  This  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  contrasting  forms  of  pelagic  animals, 
on  either  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  A difference  of  one 


9 


degree  of  surface  temperature,  between  the  tropical  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  is  one  of  the  obvious  data,  giving  us  a clue  to 
the  different  manifestations  of  disease,  in  the  two  oceans 
near  the  line.  It  has  been  attended,  since  the  probable 
severance,  of  a common  bed  of  shallow  waters,  by  uprising 
lands  in  tertiary,  or  post  tertiary  times,  by  such  a vari- 
ation in  the  evolution  of  creatures  from  a common  stock, 
that  the  specific  characteristics,  of  sea-urchins  and  other  an- 
imal forms,  now  demonstrate  a complete  isolation  and  con- 
trast of  the  faunae  of  the  two  oceans.  Nature’s  wheel  re- 
volves more  rapidly  the  warmer  the  sea.  Where  there  is 
most  life  we  have  most  death,  but,  whatever  may  be  the 
degree,  as  the  chemist  Dumas  has  said,  there  is  an  eternal 
round  in  which  death  is  quickened  and  life  appears,  but 
in  which  matter  merely  changes  its  place  and  form. 

There  is  one  distinctive  feature  of  the  ocean'  which  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  in  relation  to  the  subject  under  discussion. 
It,  is  the  great  scarcity  of  plant  life — the  few  algae  add  lit- 
tle to  the  sargasso , in  the  way  of  plant  shelter  and  support 
for  quaint  and  parasitic  animals. 

Vessels  sailing  for  the  equator,  from  north  or  south,  pass 
from  cold  to  temperate  and  from  temperate  to  warm  lati- 
tudes. They  are  struck  as  they  advance  by  the  increasing 
phosphorescence  of  the  sea,  which  attains  to  such  brilliancy, 
that  the  agitated  waters,  surrounding  a moving  ship,  rival 
and  exceed  the  starry  heavens  in  brilliancy,  and  enable  a 
person  to  read  small  print  on  deck.  Numerous  pelagic 
animals  emit  this  light,  and  it  has  been  thought  by  a French 
Physician  that  one  creature,  Noctiluca  Miliaris , specially 
phosphorescent,  was  the  critical  element  inducing  yellow 
fever  by  its  death  and  decay  in  the  stagnant  bilge.  This 
with  many  other  intricate  points  may  possibly  be  made  the 
subject  of  special  experiment  and  prolonged  research.  My 
object  to  day  is  to  insist  on  the  conditions,  established  by 
science,  in  relation  to  the  distribution  of  heat  and  living  or- 


10 


ganisms,  on  surface  ocean  waters,  and  which  tend  to  the  in- 
creasing danger,  of  a special  and  intense  bilge -foulness,  as 
ships  approach  and  are  detained  within  the  belts  of  tropical 
calms. 

A prolonged  and  unceasing  study  of  this  question,  in  all 
its  bearings  has  tended  to  impress  on  my  mind  the  probable 
truth  of  a generalization,  which  may  one  day  procure  for 
its  author  a just  renown.  In  a note  on  the  last  page  of  a 
work  published  in  1856,  on  the  Basis  of  Medical  Science,  by 
Dr.  J.  C.  Faget  of  New  Orleans,  there  is  a casual,  but  tren- 
chant, distinction  drawn  between  the  citrabiliary  fever  of 
animal  origin , yellow  fever,  and  the  paludal  fever,  intermit- 
tent of  vegetable  origin.  The  probabilities  are  that  the  pu- 
trescent water  crammed  with  Sarcode,  near  or  within 
the  tropics,  is  the  true  parent  of  yellow  fever  infection, 
just  as  we  know  that  vegetable  decay  surrounds  this 
city  with  agues  and  bilious  remittent.  The  sea  is  the 
home,  par  excellence,  of  perishable  animal  forms,  whereas 
the  soil  or  humus  is  the  product  of  a plant  decomposition, 
which  attains  undue  and  dangerous  proportions  with 
excessive  heat  and  moisture. 

The  practical  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  very  brief 
exposition  I have  made  is  that  a ship,  to  be  kept  health}7', 
must  be  driven  fast  through  the  dense  beds  of  pelagic  life, 
or  kept  out  of  them  as  much  as  possible.  It  is  fortunate 
that  the  dangerous  area  is  confined  to  the  Atlantic,  but,  un- 
fortunately for  New  Orleans,  the  nearest  approach  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  sea,  for  many  vessels,  has 
been  through  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  in  the  direct  course 
of  the  equatorial  current. 

A look  at  the  map  will  show  you,  that  vessels,  from  the 
north  and  north-east,  need  not  descend  below  the  30th  par- 
allel of  latitude  to  reach  that  of  this  city.  The  Tropic  'of 
Cancer,  the  dangerous  West  Indian  seas,  the  hot  Caribbean, 
need  not  be  traversed  if  the  base  of  Florida  be  provided  with 


11 


a channel,  a great  highway,  draining  nearly  a thousand 
square  miles  of  fertile  lands,  and  hastening  the  transport 
of  emigrants  and  merchandise  to  and  from  the  Gulf  ports. 
So  great,  so  paramount,  have  the  advantages  of  this  great 
work  appeared  to  me,  since  first  studying  the  probable  re- 
sults— in  relation  to  yellow-fever  extensions — of  cutting  the 
Panama  Canal,  that  I could  not  resist  adding  to  the 
weighty  reasons  already  assigned  for  the  construction  of 
the  Florida  Ship  Canal — those  which  a naturalist  and  sani- 
tarian may  justly  emphasize  and  enforce. 

Since  1855,  when  a Report,  on  Survey  for  a Ship  Canal 
Across  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  was  published  by  the  Corps 
of  Topographical  Engineers,  the  country  has  attained  to 
commercial  developments  which  indicate  that  whatever  con- 
clusions were  then  arrived  at,  as  to  the  value  of  this  canal, 
time  has  indicated,  that  the  results,  in  the  future,  are  likely 
to  exceed  the  most  sanguine  anticipations  of  enthusiastic 
promoters.  I must  ask  you,  however,  to  cast  your  eyes  on 
a table  of  figures,  for  which  I am  indebted  to  the  Chief  of 
the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  route  for  the  Canal  was  surveyed,  immigra- 
tion fell  from  51,169  persons,  in  1854,  to  20,388,  in  1855, 
and  last  year  it  had  dropt  by  a rapidly-descending  scale 
to  3,297. 


12 


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If  you  look  back  you  will  find  that  whenever  emigra- 
tions rose,  so  yellow  fever  mortality  attained  a maximum. 
In  a few  months  the  European  Peasant  heard  of  the  dan- 
gers attending  a visit  to  this  region.  He  was  driven  from 
fields  of  industry  where,  in  health,  he  might  easily  have 
thrived,  but  he  has  preferred  to  brave  hard  winters  and 
the  labor  of  clearing  woodlands,  to  risking  the  lives , of 
himself  and  family,  in  a yellow  fever  country. 

The  great  epidemic  of  1858,  undoubtedly  introduced  by 
an  emigrant  vessel,  the  Northampton,  direct  from  Europe 


13 


to  New  Orleans,  via  the  Caribbean  Sea,  created  such  a panic, 
in  this  country  and  in 'Europe,  that  direct  voyages  to  the 
South  and  the  Mississippi  Y alley  were  abandoned,  for  a safer 
entrance  via  New  York  to  the  Western  States. 

I regret  that  I am  compelled  to  limit  this  fruitful  field  of 
discussion,  owing  to  the  time  allotted  to  the  reading  of  this 
paper,  but  the  silent  figures  before  you  are  eloquent  be- 
yond any  words  of  mine.  They  point  at  once  to  the  vast 
importance  of  establishing  a straight  and  speedy  line  of 
transit  from  Europe  to  this  port,  and  a saving  of  nearly  a 
week’s  time,  with  exclusion  from  tropical  waters,  signifies 
the  permanent  raising  of  the  health  standard  of  Gulf  ports, 
and  especially  of  this  great  commercial  emporium. 

In  the  1855  Report,  the  important  and  obvious  connexion, 
which  the  construction  of  this  canal  has  with  Gulf  com- 
merce, was  stated  as  follows : • 

“1st.  Saving  a large  proportion  of  the  insurance  now  im- 
posed upon  it  by  the  Florida  Straits.” 

“2d.  Avoidance  of  a perilous  navigation.” 

“3d.  An  important  saving  of  time  ; hence,  of  interest  on 
capital  engaged  in  this  trade.” 

It  is  needless  to  allude  to  strategical  advantages  foreshad- 
owed, although  the  war,  which  so  soon  followed  the  survey- 
or’s words,  proved  that  it  would  be  well  for  this  country  to 
have  more  than  one  pass  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf 
Last  session  a Senate  Document  (No.  154)  was  printed, 
entitled  “ Report  of  the  results  of  an  examination  made  of 
.the  peninsula  of  Florida  with  a view  to  the  construction  of 
a ship-canal  from  Saint  Mary’s  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.” 
In  this  encouraging  preliminary  report,  Col.  Q.  A.  Gill- 
more  says  that,  unless  it  can  be  shown  “ that  there  is  likely 
to  be  a very  large  increase  of  freights,  seeking  this  route 
at  no  distant  day,  the  construction  of  the  canal  as  a private 
enterprise  should  be  regarded  as  commercially  infeasible.” 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Col.  has  directed  attention  to  the 


14 


westward  extensions  of  farming  ; to  the  yearly  increase  in 
wheat  production,  and  to  the  conditions  which  may  revive 
trade  on  the  Mississippi.  He  says : 

"This  westward  movement  of  the  grain  center  causes  Saint  Louis  to 
grow  in  importance,  as  a receiving  and  distributing  depot  of  cereals, 
while  the  cost  of  transporting  grain  from  the  West  by  rail  to  Eastern 
ports  will  correspondingly  increase. 

" The  British  and  Canadian  Governments  are  making  great  efforts 
to  secure  as  large  a portion  as  possible  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  West, 
by  improving  its  water  routes  to  the  seaboard.  Within  three  years 
from  the  present  time,  the  completion  of  the  Welland  Canal  enlarge- 
ment will  enable  British  steamships,  of  about  2,000  tons,  to  receive 
their  cargoes  of  grain  nnd  provisions  at  Chicago  and  other  lake  ports, 
and  carry  them  directly  to  Europe. 

"In  the  present  condition  of  the  lakes  and  Erie  Canal  line,  the  aver- 
age cost  of  carrying  wheat  from  Chicago  to  New  York  is  8.15  cents 
per  bushel. 

"By  the  enlargement  of  the  Canadian  canals,  to  be  finished  within  a 
few  years,  British  vessels  can  afford  to  carry  grain  from  Chicago  to 
Montreal  for  6 cents  per  bushel;  and  Montreal  is  250  miles  nearer  than 
New  York  to  the  European  Market. 

" The  British  and  Canadian  Governments  have  nearly  completed 
works  which  will  cost  over  $80,000,000,  in  addition  to  earlier  improve- 
ments on  which  $24,000,000  were  expended,  making  a total  of  over 
$54,000,000  spent  in  order  to  control,  as  far  as  possible,  the  carrying 
trade  of  our  grain-raising  States. 

"With  the  completion  of  this  cheap  foreign  water  route,  penetrating 
into  the  very  heart  of  our  agricultural  region,  the  United  States  will 
possess  no  transportation  line  that  can  compete  with  it  on  equal  terms, 
unless  the  Mississippi  river  is  improved,  and  all  obstacles  are  removed 
that  stand  in  the  way  of  the  most  economical  transportation  to  foreign 
and  domestic  markets,  of  the  surplus  products  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

"With  the  improvement  of  this  southern  route  accomplished,  the 
Mississippi  River  will  become  the  great  and  successful  competitor  of 
the  Canada  waterline,  for  the  reason  that  the  center  of  the  grain  re- 
gion is  gradually  working  away  from  the  latter.  Moreover  the  north- 
ern route  will  be  closed  by  ice  durmg  five  months  in  the  year,  while 
the  other  will  be  open  at  all  seasons. 

"From  a national  point  of  view  a Florida  Ship-Canal  is  an  object  of 
importance,  as  part  of  a comprehensive  scheme  for  improving  and 
cheapening  our  means  of  water  transportation  from  the  heart  of  our 
grain  and  cotton-growing  regions  to  foreign  ports,  and  there  would 
seem  to  be  as  little  need  of  attempting  to  fix  its  rentable  or  money- 
earning  value,  as  in  undertaking  to  apply  the  same  rule  to  the  works 
of  river  and  harbor  improvement,  prosecuted  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment.” 

"In  the  case  of  the  Canadian  Canals  it  is  not  pretended  that  they 
pay  from  a merely  mercantile  point  of  view.  The  chief  Engineer  of 
public  works  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  in  his  report  on  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  river  Saint  Lawrence,  July  9,  1874,  says: 

“It  is  well  known  that  none  of  the  (Canadian)  canals  "have  paid  the  interest  of 
the  money  expended  in  their  constructions,  or  indeed  very  little  more  than  the 
working  expenses  connected  with  them.  Still,  few  who  compare  the  past  with  the 
present  condition  of  Canada,  will  doubt  (but?)  that  they  have  been  of  far  greater 
benefit  to  the  country  than  the  aggregate  amount  of  their  cost.” 


15 


What  more  need  be  said  to  stimulate  American  enter- 
prise, and  to  urge  Congress  to  further  any  practical  project, 
whereby  life  and  commerce,  in  the  South  and  West,  may 
reap  all  the  benefits  of  this  Canal  ? New  Orleans  is  natur- 
ally a healthy  city.  The  records  of  operative  surgeons,  the 
experiences  of  such  men  as  Andrew  W.  Smyth,  who  fear 
no  serial  germs,  and  do  not  practice  what  is  called  antisep- 
tic surgery,  indicate  that  putrefaction  is  subordinated  here 
in  Nature’s  cycle,  and  that  pestilential  emanations — apart 
from  the  marsh  intermittents — are  foreign  to  this  region, 
and,  indeed,  to  this  Continent.  Yellow-fever  is  not  a dis- 
ease of  the  American  Continent.  Let  us,  therefore,  secure 
to  New  Orleans  all  the  advantages  of  its  latitude  and  its 
climate,  of  the  fast-flowing  river  in  front  of  it,  and  the 
wholesome  Gulf  beyond.  Ships  reaching  Fernandina,  whilst 
tracing  along  either  of  the  routes  marked  on  the  accompa- 
nying map,  will  be  under  inspection,  and  can  be  purified 
before  they  cross  the  Gulf  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. This  advantage  alone  should  command  the  unani- 
mous support,  not  only  of  the  Gulf  ports,  but  of  the  entire 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  the  National  Government. 

The  genius  of  Americans  has  been  manifested  in  the 
gradual,  but  remarkable,  development  of  an  inland  naviga- 
tion which,  when  complete,  and  it  is  estimated  that  95  per 
cent  of  the  circuit  is  now  ready,  will  bring  a ship  from  New 
York  to  New  Orleans,  without  passing  into  the  Atlantic  or 
the  Gulf.  She  may  then  ascend  the  Mississippi,  and  pass 
round  by  Chicago  and  the  Lakes,  through  the  Erie  Canal  to 
New  York  again.  The  first  man  who  ever  cut  and  navi- 
gated a canal  exclusively  by  steam,  Mr.  Marshall  Parks,  of 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  President  of  the  Albemarle  and  Chesa- 
peake Canal,  tells  me  that  a little  over  $100,000,000 
would  probably  cut  all  the  canals  needed  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  natural  navigation  and  complete  this  mag- 
nificent circuit.  Mr.  Parks,  whose  methods  were  made 


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16 

available  even  in  cutting  the  Suez  Canal,  for  French 
engineers  were  sent  to  inspect  his  works,  assures  me  that 
with  a very  small  force  of  men,  large  steam  dredges  might 
cut  the  Florida  Canal,  giving  a breadth  of  300  feet 
and  a depth  of  30  feet  in  three  or,  at  most,  four  years. 
Skill  and  experience  for  this  work  abound.  The  en- 
gineers’ estimates  need  not  be  exceeded ; and  whilst  the 
French  are  cutting  the  Panama  Canal,  with  the  certainty 
of  extending  the  yellow  fever  area,  it  is  hoped  the  people 
of  this  country  will  contract  that  area,  and  favor  their  great 
Inland  and  International  commerce,  by  securing  to  this  lat- 
itude all  its  natural  advantages.  Cut  the  Florida  Ship 
Canal,  and,  with  common  care,  New  Orleans  will  enjoy  the 
same  immunity  from  yellow  fever  as  ports  on  the  Atlan- 
tic shores.  Then,  the  iniquity  of  fouling  Cuba,  by  a con- 
stant influx  of  Spanish  soldiers  and  filthy  ships,  will  become 
more  apparent,  and  lead  to  measures  calculated  to  benefit 
the  Antilles,  as  much  as  the  Gulf  ports  and  the  great  valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  Let  us  rise  from  a paltry  trifling  with 
a gigantic  evil,  and  in  a statesmanlike  manner  insist  on  the 
broadest  treatment  of  so  great  a question.  The  efforts  of 
. the  Auxiliary  Sanitary  Association  are  worthy  of  all 
praise.  Let  them  be  seconded  by  essential  co-operation  be- 
yond the  narrow  limits  of  this  City  and  State. 

Kiggs  House, 

Washington , D.  (7.,  December  2d,  1880. 


